Is Self-Reported Physical Activity Participation Associated with Lower Health Services Utilization among Older Adults? Cross-Sectional Evidence from the Canadian Community Health Survey
Table 3
Health services utilization, stratified by age group and PA level.
50–64 yrs.
65–79 yrs.
80 yrs. and older
( = 29,914)
( = 20,183)
( = 6,555)
Inactive
Mod. active
Active
Inactive
Mod. active
Active
Inactive
Mod. active
Active
( = 15,393)
( = 7,882)
( = 6,639)
( = 11,109)
( = 5,027)
( = 4,047)
( = 4,772)
( = 1,101)
( = 682)
GP consultations*
Mean (SD)
3.5 (5.3)
3.1 (4.7)
2.7 (4.2)
4.2 (5.2)
3.6 (3.9)
3.3 (4.4)
5.4 (7.6)
4.4 (4.7)
3.9 (3.8)
None (%)
17.9
16.3
21.8
12.7
11.4
14.8
9.7
12.6
11.3
1 consultation (%)
20.2
23.4
23.8
14.4
16.9
20.8
11.0
14.4
16.4
2 to 4 consultations (%)
41.0
42.4
40.0
43.9
49.1
45.7
41.5
40.8
45.8
5 to 8 consultations (%)
11.8
11.3
9.2
16.1
13.5
11.7
19.0
17.3
16.0
9 or more consultations (%)
9.1
6.6
5.1
12.9
9.0
7.0
18.9
14.9
10.5
†Specialist consultations*
Mean (SD)
1.1 (3.8)
1.0 (4.3)
0.8 (2.5)
1.0 (3.2)
0.8 (2.1)
0.8 (1.9)
0.9 (2.7)
0.8 (2.4)
0.8 (2.2)
None (%)
67.7
69.1
71.0
64.5
65.4
66.1
68.4
65.9
69.6
1 consultation (%)
13.9
13.8
14.5
14.9
16.4
15.8
12.3
15.8
16.8
2 consultations (%)
6.9
7.4
5.8
8.6
9.2
9.0
7.8
9.6
3.5
3 or more consultations (%)
11.5
9.7
8.7
12.0
9.0
9.1
11.4
8.6
10.1
Hospital admission in past year* (%)
Yes
7.8
6.1
5.7
14.1
9.9
8.5
19.7
14.4
10.5
No
92.2
93.9
94.3
85.9
90.1
91.5
80.3
85.6
89.5
††Total number of hospital nights*
Mean (SD)
9.2 (21.2)
9.3 (23.4)
7.2 (16.8)
11.0 (21.2)
9.4 (20.1)
8.0 (17.6)
13.4 (25.8)
10.3 (16.1)
9.7 (12.6)
Specialist consultations include all specialist physicians except eye specialists. Mean number of hospital nights for individuals reporting a hospital admission in previous 12 months. Within each age group, PA groups were significantly different () on all health service utilization variables.
